


Victory at a Cost

by Overthinkerwrites



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Backstory, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-08-14 21:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8029009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Overthinkerwrites/pseuds/Overthinkerwrites
Summary: It is only through one of Camilla's subordinates who's been with her though her various tours of duty that Corrin is able to discover when, and how, she became the Terror of the Skies of Nohr.





	Victory at a Cost

“Captain Desmond,” Corrin asked as she followed the officer from the meeting.

“Yes, Master Corrin,” he said, looking up from the report in his hand.

“If you’ve a moment, I would like to ask concerning Camilla,” she said moving an errant strand of hair behind her pointed ear.

“Surely you’d be better off asking her,” he answered, confused at her question.

Corrin’s gaze faltered slightly as she knew she may well be treading on ground best left alone. “I know. However, I keep hearing about an incident ten years prior. I’ve attempted to have her recall the story for me, because she always tells me about her tours of duty, but every now and then and I hear about her debut as a captain that she has never spoken of. And it is the only topic she avoids. Always.”

The captain studied her a moment before looking to the assembly hall of the king where the rest of the command staff still mingled. He then looked back to her and nodded, “Very well, but not here. On the morrow, before morning exercises. I trust you to be discreet.”

Corrin gasped when she discovered her wish was to be answered and nodded eagerly.

*

The air was cold and even on the inside of the barracks, her breath left a lingering mist with every exhale. She rubbed her hands and chided herself for not bringing heavier gloves.

“Master Corrin,” Captain Desmond whispered, as his footsteps drew close.

“Captain Desmond,” Corrin responded in kind.

The Captain paused again. Then looking out to the presently empty training field, knowing that it would soon be filled with the finest of Nohr’s troops to prepare themselves for the day.

“I preface this by asking, no, imploring you, that you keep this matter secret, even from Lady Camilla until the proper time and place. Please, give me your word that what I shall say to you, you will not repeat to another soul, so as long as you draw breath.”

The request caught Corrin off guard. It wasn’t unreasonable. However, something this deep that Camilla had kept from her had driven Corrin to this extreme. And she could keep a secret.

“By my name, by my honor, by Nohr, I swear,” she answered with a clenched fist, as she drew it across her neck to signify, in Nohrian fashion, that she’d sooner suffer death than disclose the secret she was entrusted with. 

Satisfied, Desmond nodded. “Very well.” He turned to the dark outside. “Lady Camilla had just been promoted to captain. You have no doubt heard talk of how the women of Nohr are boasted to be twice the men of other lands. It is no boast, Master Corrin. Women who obtain rank in the Nohr military are a force to be reckoned with. Until Lady Camilla came along.”

Corrin blinked at that last statement.

“Most believed her to have obtained her position through nepotism, being of royal blood. As a result, the military leaders, in passive defiance to the king, relegated Lady Camilla to petty duties, despite leading her own squad, of which I was a part of and still a recruit at the time.”

He clasped his hands behind him. “It hung heavy over her shoulders. And it made morale in the unit… difficult at times. There had been many requests for transfers out of her squad, as many did not feel her capable as a leader, nor as a soldier.”

“It dragged on for months and the stress took its toll on her. You could see it in her eyes as the once honored title of captain seemed more a burden than a boon.”

“Then, six months after her debut; we had been dispatched to discover the lair of a band of audacious bandits that had been raiding smaller towns and maintenance caravans. The military leadership hoped it would at least pacify her complaints for a season, or so we assumed.”

The Captain’s face turned dark. “It had been a trap. An ambush. Despite being on horseback, the bandits took advantage of the forests we traveled through to take us by surprise. Lady Camilla and I were the only survivors. And they took us prisoner, if only to mock us for not allowing us a death in combat.”

He took a deep breath and exhaled again. “The bandits and their leader mocked us for days as they barely kept us alive through scraps and drops of water. Doubly so against Lady Camilla. The taunting was unbearable to hear of all the disgusting things they planned to do with Lady Camilla were their demands not met. My attempts to… dissuade them were met with beatings and torture. All simply to try and break her.”

Captain Desmond’s eyes glazed over as the images returned in force. “Until one day… something… shattered. The taunting had become too much, but Lady Camilla, as if she found her courage, stood and demanded that she be allowed to fight their leader one on one for our freedom. Were she to emerge victorious, we would allowed to leave, if she lost… by Nohr, Corrin… I refuse to recite what she would acquiesce to should she lose. It is too wretched to even consider.”

Captain Desmond took another breath.

“Confident, the bandit leader unchained her, and had one of his men give her a rusty, nearly shattered lance. He readied his ax, his victory assured and sneered that he’d allow her the first blow, knowing full well he already held the advantage.”

Desmond’s eyes closed.

“It was his first and last mistake.” His eyes opened again, narrowed in stark recollection. “She caught him off guard with a wide swing and took off his head. As the bandits stood shocked, she took his ax as if it were nothing and began to slaughter them all down to the last man.” He looked to Corrin, the fear apparent in his eyes.

“Mortals do not summon that kind of strength through training. No, something else had emerged. I do not know what, but it has never left her since that day. Perhaps it was her apathy, for as she cut the bandits down without a second thought, they begged for clemency, but hewed them down one after another as if they were stalks of grain being harvested.”

He paused a moment before he shook his head. “A man does not know war until he sees the innards of his foes, his allies, or his own. I am ashamed to admit that I tried to shut out the carnage, but all I could do was close my eyes and pray the butchery to end.”

His gaze went down as he shuddered. “When the screaming stopped, I opened my eyes and saw her, both of us in shock in what she’d done and what I’d seen. The air was warm. You could see the steam emerge from the cooling bodies of the bandits.”

He shook momentarily, as if to ward off the images of his memory to return to the story. “I don’t know how much time passed before I came back to my senses, but I asked her if she were well when I did. It brought her back, despite being a mess for… obvious reasons. She freed me and we made our escape. However, since that day, she had changed. With every subsequent mission, she brought victory to Nohr, with each conclusion more vicious and brutal than the last. The heads of the military knew she had become both what they’d hoped for in every recruit and what they feared all in one. She pretends to be ignorant of it, but only a fool would believe her.”

Captain Desmond turned away. “Lady Camilla asked that I tell no one what had happened, because she believes that the heads of the army at the time may had conspired to have her killed. As much as I protested at the time, she saw reason when I did not. For who would believe us? That is why I ask you to hold your tongue, Master Corrin. Lady Camilla has shown you favor and love like noone else. And for good reason. I reveal this to you in hopes that, when the circumstances are right, it will help her come to terms with what happened and not allow it to simply fade away. She deserves better than this.”

His tale done, Captain Desmond turned and walked back to the shadows. “What you carry now, Master Corrin, is a grave responsibility. I hope you will live up to it.”

When Captain Desmond had left her, Corrin found herself stunned. She knew Camilla loved her without reservation, however, to know that she also carried the specter of such an event unsettled Corrin. All of a sudden, those statements she had made in jest about ‘to the last man’ were not as amusing as they once were.


End file.
